In January 2014, the United States Postal Service will increase its international first-class postage rates by 11% for flat-size postage. For companies in the publishing, catalog and directory industries, they will be facing quite a steep increase in shipping costs over last year.
A great way to mitigate these increases is to use the USPS International Surface Air Transportation (ISAL) program. The USPS ISAL program is a mass mailing system that provides economical international delivery of international mail and packages. USPS ISAL shipments are made from specific cities of entry in the United States and, upon arrival in the destination country, are treated as surface or standard class mail for delivery.
To qualify for the USPS ISAL program, a postage must display First Class Mail International characteristics as described in the USPS International Mail Manual. The USPS ISAL program is not available for all countries in the world. However, the ISAL program serves approximately 127 countries around the world and has average transit times of between 7 and 14 days.
Benefits of USPS International Surface Airlift (ISAL)
- Perfect for less urgent material weighing <2 kilos
- It is shipped from the United States by air and then enters the standard class mail flow in the destination country.
- Average transit times of 7-14 days worldwide
- Discounted postal rates
How can a Mailer participate in the USPS ISAL program?
Mailer’s would contact a qualified postal wholesaler locally and speak with an international mail consultant to help guide you through the service. What is a Postal Qualified Wholesaler (PQW)? A qualified postal mail wholesaler is a company that has been thoroughly vetted by the USPS to meet their strict readiness guidelines. The PQWs will have their operations and procedures thoroughly vetted to ensure they comply with all USPS safety and preparedness guidelines. If you are unfamiliar with a PQW in your area, contact your USPS Global Account Manager for recommendations in your area. When selecting a PQW, make sure it has locations in multiple locations across the United States to ensure your mail is processed regardless of conditions in your area.
Be sure to ask your PQW the following questions.
1) Do you leave your mail at the International Classification Center (ISC)? If so, what ISC does your company use? This is extremely important to maximize postal savings. PQWs receive greater discounts for delivering mail at an ISC location than at a local mass mail center. So you need to make sure they get their mail into the ISC and they have multiple locations in the United States by logging into multiple ISC locations.
2) How often do you send mail to the USPS ISC? If your sender does not have significant volumes from ISAL, they can choose to enter their mail at ISC only a couple of times a week. This could result in longer delivery times and annoy customers.
3) How much weight does your PQW lose each week on the ISC? If your sender does not have significant volumes of ISAL that they are delivering to the USPS, your mail will most likely receive slower treatment at the ISC.
4) What percentage of your mail is sent on Direct Sacks? This is critical, make sure your email gets at least 95% placed on Direct Sacks. What is a straight bag? A Direct Sack has at least 3 pounds of mail destined for a particular country. If they don’t meet this requirement, the USPS will have to handle their mail and create a direct bag of the other mail they are receiving. Direct Sacks require minimal USPS handling and are shipped on the next available flight. So mailing with a business that creates only 70% direct bags could mean 30% of your mail is delivered slower than the rest.
5) What will your PQW do with mail that is not included in the ISAL program? Since the USPS ISAL program does not serve every country in the world, it is important to know what will happen to mail that is out of service. I would recommend using a PQW that will ship to all NON-ISAL countries via Priority International Airmail. There are many PQWs that will simply return NON-ISAL countries to the post as undeliverable.
To qualify for the highest level of discounts, make sure your PQW is depositing your mail in one of the following ISAL acceptance cities in New York, Miami, Chicago, San Francisco, or Los Angeles. If your PQW is depositing your mail in any other city, you may be leaving some shipping savings on the table. Also, if your PQW is depositing mail in another city, it will experience longer than required transit times. All ISAL mail, regardless of the depositing city, must reach one of the ISAL acceptance cities for international elevation.
Which Mailer Should the USPS International Surface Air Transportation Program Use?
1) If you have more than 50 pounds of international mail.
2) If your shipment is less urgent and can accommodate a 7-14 day delivery.
3) Are you shipping small packages under $ 400 in value?
4) If your mail consists of printed material that is not a check, invoice or statement.
If the above criteria fit your current business profile, then I would contact your Global Account Manager at the United States Postal Service or a PQW to start saving thousands on shipping costs.